O'Leary: Bill Herrion short on answers during team's lackluster start

Wednesday

The New Hampshire men's basketball coach had a hard time trusting some of his veteran players in the second half of a 78-70 defeat, his team's seventh in eight Division I games. He walked into the postgame media room with a whole lot more questions — on core issues like leadership and toughness, no less — than answers.

“I don’t have an answer. I don’t know,” Herrion said when pressed specifically on the leadership piece. “I think that has to come. We’ve got seniors, older guys that, you know … maybe some of these guys it’s just not that important to them. I don’t know. It’s an interesting question. I don’t have an answer. Very frustrating.”

That’s what a lackluster, 2-7 start sounds like.

Thanks to back-to-back 20-win seasons and three straight trips to the America East semifinals, the bar has been set higher around here. Now less than a month from the start of conference play, the ’Cats find themselves in a race to avoid a plummet similar to their 6-24 campaign four years ago; that’s about their current pace.

“I hate losing. This is a terrible feeling,” said senior Tanner Leissner, whose stalwart UNH career deserves a better final script. “I almost forgot what (winning) felt like the other day against Bryant; I felt amazing. And then (Tuesday) it feels like we’re back down again.

“But if we can gain the experience we need in these close games that we’re losing and execute it down the stretch in conference, I think all this will pay off in the long run; if we can get to our ultimate goal.”

Herrion’s cry for leadership excludes Leissner, who’s been a steady presence on both ends of the floor; his 19.6 points-per-game average is the highest of his career and currently the 66th-best mark in the nation.

The disappointment is aimed more toward New Hampshire’s other veteran players. Senior Iba Camara is averaging a double-double per game but continues to battle foul trouble, an ongoing confrontation that’s held him back more than any defender could over the past four years.

Redshirt senior Jacoby Armstrong and junior Jordan Reed have bounced in and out of the starting lineup, yielding minutes to younger players like freshmen Elijah Jordan and Josh Hopkins, and sophomore John Ogwuche; all three were featured members of the rotation in the closing minutes of Tuesday’s setback.

New Hampshire is averaging 69.9 points per game, tied for 272nd in the nation and pumped up by a 95-point showing in a season-opening rout of Division 3 Wheelock. But the offense is the least of Herrion’s concerns. Niagara brought two of the nation’s top 25 scorers into Lundholm Gymnasium, and the Wildcats barely made them sweat.

Matt Scott (25.8 ppg) and Kahlil Dukes (22.1 ppg) combined to score 58 points on 58.8 percent shooting. They were the ringleaders of a Niagara team that shot 16 for 25 in the second half and 11 for 24 overall from 3-point range.

The Wildcats rode Leissner (24 points) and Jordan’s career-high 19 points to keep pace before fading off in crunch time.

“It’s just hard if you’re relying on a freshman in his eighth or ninth college basketball game,” said Herrion, who played Jordan 31 minutes off the bench. “We need our other, older guys to contribute. (Niagara’s) two seniors — one kid’s a fifth-year senior, Dukes, and the other kid Scott … basically that’s 60 out of their 78 points. They’re two great players. We had nobody who could guard either one of them. We did a poor job on them.”

New Hampshire started Tuesday’s game with Reed and Ogwuche in the backcourt, its best defensive lineup on paper against two elite scoring guards like Dukes and Scott. Ogwuche rarely left the floor and played 39 minutes, tied with Leissner for a game high. Reed saw just five minutes in the second half and wasn’t seen much after Niagara’s 11-0 run shortly after halftime.

“Got to guard,” Herrion said when asked about Reed’s minutes. “We want him to be a defensive stopper.”

The Wildcats had an off-day to lick their wounds Wednesday and are now gearing up for Saturday’s 3 p.m. game at Holy Cross. In nonconference play, the ’Cats are looking up at every America East team except Maine (2-7) entering their 10th game of the season.

They’re nowhere close to where they hoped, or expected, to be.

“We have to kind of go back to the drawing board,” Herrion said. “Disappointing loss. I’m really disappointed in (Tuesday night), defensively in particular.”

Ryan O'Leary is a sports editor for Seacoast Media Group. Send Ryan feedback by e-mail at roleary@seacoastonline.com or follow him on Twitter@RyanOLearySMG.

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